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The main principles of optimal flow regulation in small rivers by reservoirs are presented. New methodological approaches are considered, taking into account the need of differential analysis of the physiographic conditions of the areas where the basins of the examined rivers are located. This is of particular importance in the case of formation of regional response to global climate warming with a combination of unfavorable economic and environmental conditions. The methodological basis of the study includes the geosystem approach and a basin principle, which allow comprehensive incorporation of the effect of the totality of natural and anthropogenic factors on the formation of variations of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of water in watercourse and the ecological conditions in them. The methods of studies include the physiographic zoning of the Ural River basin within the boundaries of the Russian Federation, statistical and graphical analysis of materials of long-term hydrometeorological observations, cartography, etc. The results of the study include methodological provision and substantiation of methodological principles for optimal flow regulation of small rivers in the Ural River basin by reservoirs within the boundaries of the Russian Federation, taking into account environmental and economic criteria. They form a part of a vast list of proposals aimed at hydrological-environmental rehabilitation of small rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observational analyses demonstrate that the Ural persistent positive height anomaly event (PAE) experienced a decadal increase around the year 2000, exhibiting a southward displacement afterward. These decadal variations are related to a large-scale circulation shift over the Eurasian Continent. The effects of underlying sea ice and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies on the Ural PAE and the related atmospheric circulation were explored by Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) experiments from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 and by sensitivity experiments using the Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM). The AMIP experiment results suggest that the underlying sea ice and SST anomalies play important roles. The individual contributions of sea ice loss in the Barents-Kara Seas and the SST anomalies linked to the phase transition of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) are further investigated by AGCM sensitivity experiments isolating the respective forcings. The sea ice decline in Barents-Kara Seas triggers an atmospheric wave train over the Eurasian mid-to-high latitudes with positive anomalies over the Urals, favoring the occurrence of Ural PAEs. The shift in the PDO to its negative phase triggers a wave train propagating downstream from the North Pacific. One positive anomaly lobe of the wave train is located over the Ural Mountains and increases the PAE there. The negative-to-positive transition of the AMO phase since the late-1990s causes positive 500-hPa height anomalies south of the Ural Mountains, which promote a southward shift of Ural PAE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First data on the contents of the 13C and 15N isotopes in collagen were obtained for 16 bones of the Ural cave bear Ursus (Spelaearctos) kanivetz Verestchagin, 1973 from the Tayn (Secrets) cave (55°25′ N, 57°46′ E). The bones are dated to the middle MIS 3 and belonged to males and females of about 2 years, about 3 years, and older than 4 years of age. No considerable difference in isotope signatures was observed between individuals of different ages and different genders. Cave bears were assumed to forage independently on plant food from the second year of life. The δ13C and δ15N values established for the Ural cave bear are close to the values reported for U. (S.) spelaeus ingressus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 1250 lower first molars (m1) of voles (Arvicolini) were studied from Late Pleistocene deposits (the radiocarbon dates from rodent bones: 17 100 ± 50 IGANAMS-9117; 13 255 ± 60 IGANAMS-9116) of the Imanay Cave (southern Urals, 53°02' N, 56°26' E). Of these, 24 m1 of voles of the subgenus Stenocranius were found to have broadly connected triangles T4 and T5 (Pitymys–Rhombus) at the base of the anteroconid. This structure is characteristic of lower m1 of Lasiopodomys (Stenocranius) gregaloides (Hinton, 1923) from faunas of the second half of the Early Pleistocene and the first half of the Middle Pleistocene. Molars with such morphology have not been found so far in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene locations of Europe and the Urals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The levels of interspecific and intraspecific variation in morphometric parameters of spermatozoa have been studied in seven wild rodent species of the families Cricetidae and Muridae and inbred CBA mice. The study of intraspecific variability of parameters included an analysis of within-population age-related variation and variation among individuals within a population. It has been found that, as expected, animal species is the factor contributing most to variation in the test parameters, but the degree of differences between species has been not always proportional to genetic distances between them. The proportion of within-population age-related variation is not significant and, hence, can be ignored in population studies on male reproduction. In contrast, the contribution of individual variation in the parameters of spermatozoa to their overall variation in each species is significant and should be taken into account when forming the samples and analyzing the results. The levels of intraspecific variation in the morphometric parameters of spermatozoa in wild rodents and inbred mice are similar to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lower molar (m1) of cave bears from Late Pleistocene localities of the Urals was studied employing the methods of traditional morphometry and geometric morphometrics. On the basis of the size and shape variation of m1, the small cave bear (Ursus ex gr. savini-rossicus) was found to have been a part of the faunas from the caves Skazka, Viasher, Dynamitnaya, Chudesnitsa, and Chernye Kosti. The small cave bear presence in faunas from the Medvezhya, Makhnevskaya Ledyanaya, Asha 1, Ignat'evskaya, and Barsuchii Dol caves was confirmed as well. The species range of the small cave bear encompassed the Northern, Middle, and Southern Urals in the Late Pleistocene. The ranges of the small cave bear and cave bear (Ursus kanivetz) overlapped from the beginning (marine isotope stage 5e) to the middle (middle marine isotope stage 3) of the Late Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microwear of the non-occlusal surface of incisors (I1, I2) of the small cave bear (Ursus ex gr. savini-rossicus) and Ural cave bear (Ursus kanivetz) from the Pleistocene of the Middle and South Urals is analyzed and compared. Qualitative characteristics of incisor microwear have been shown to be different in these species. In the small cave bear, coarser lesions on the non-occlusal surface of the incisors are observed. Considering the specificity of microwear of non-occlusal tooth surfaces, the data obtained suggest differences in trophic specialization of the species. studied [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variability of 15 microsatellite loci was analyzed in 15 786 cattle individuals of Black Pied, Holstein, and Tagil breeds bred in the Urals. It was demonstrated that modern population of Holstein Black Pied cattle contained in pedigree farm of Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, Tyumen, and Chelyabinsk oblasts, Perm krai, and the Republic of Udmurtia represents a single population. Genetic differentiation of calves born in Sverdlovsk oblast in the period 2008–2019 and Holstein bulls contained in AO Uralplemtsentr does not differ statistically significantly from zero, which makes it possible to assert that the modern cattle population of the region belongs to the Holstein breed. A statistically significant decrease in the parameters of genetic diversity of the dairy cattle population from Sverdlovsk oblast in the period 2010–2019 was demonstrated, which indicates an increase in inbreeding in the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluate the applicability of the microsatellite multiplex assay of 11 short tandem repeat loci for individual identification of sable and pine marten, taxonomic identification of Martes species, and assessment of inter-population separation of sable populations isolated by distance. Based on the screening, we detected 50 and 80–82 alleles in pine marten and two sable populations, respectively. All 11 microsatellite markers of the proposed PCR assay were characterized by the same range of allele length in the two Marten species, which makes species identification unfeasible using any of the loci alone. However, the combination of all 11 loci differentiated sables and pine martens, and more importantly provided the opportunity to identify their hybrids in the sympatry range zone. Using the proposed microsatellite assay, we successfully identified geographic origin of most genotyped sable individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on the distribution of three genera of rotifers, Anuraeopsis, Brachionus, and Notholca of the family Brachionidae in the Ural region is summarized based on the author's research and the analysis of published sources. Data on their localities, biology, and quantitative development in water bodies of the Ural region are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remains of a cave bear were studied from a new locality in the Prokoshev Cave in the Middle Urals (58°13´ N, 58°12´ E). Bones from all regions of the skeleton are present, bones are intact and without traces of human or animal activity. They all belong to the cave bear (Ursus kanivetz Vereshchagin, 1973). An AMS radiocarbon date of 53 375 ± 765 BP, IGANAMS–8632, was obtained from an adult mandible. The bones belonged to at least 18 individuals, including 4 individuals aged about one year, 1 aged about two years, 1 aged about three years, and 12 individuals over four years of age. Three skulls belonged to males and seven skulls belonged to females. The analysis has shown that the taphonomic type of this locality is a "mass burial." This is the first "mass burial" of the cave bear in the Urals, found in situ, untouched by humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the lead-up to the 100th anniversary of the Institute of Geography RAS, we summarized the salient features and chronology of its field investigations into the country’s nature and resources during the 20th-21st centuries. It is shown that the institute’s history has embodied all stages of evolution of national geography: the traditions of the late 19th century with their departure from the perception of geography as a “descriptive” science and the development of genetic (V.V. Dokuchaev’s) and chorological (A. Hettner’s) approaches, the development of the sectoral specialization of science, the introduction of modern methods: remote sensing, navigation and geoinformation technologies, and the formation of the geography of the 21st century as a philosophical phenomenon and a synthetic discipline with profound prospects for a better understanding a rapidly changing world. This was all facilitated by the institute’s continual expedition activity that began in the first years of its functioning and has continued to date. For the first time in the historiography of the national academic geography, we determined the vectors of field investigations at the time of change of the paradigm of its interaction with practice and the relatively poorly studied territory of the country. A brief history of the permanent stations operated by the institute is given as well as identifying the periods of its functioning according to the character of expedition work: the 1920s, 1930s, the period of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, 1946-1965, 1966-1990, and from 1991 till the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of the first detailed radiocarbon data connected with the beginning of copper mining in the Southern Trans-Urals, as well as the periods of developing Southern Trans-Uralian deposits in the Bronze Age, is presented. A series of 14 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon datings are conducted on the basis of materials obtained from the cultural layers of four ancient mines. The datings cover the period from the end of the 3rd to the beginning of the 1st millennium cal BC. Median values narrow this interval to the twentieth to eleventh centuries cal BC. This prolonged period of mine development included various stages coinciding with the existing archaeological periodization applied in the region: Sintashta-Abashevo, Srubnaya-Alakul, and Final Bronze Age. The evidence obtained suggest the existence of a complete metal-production cycle in the Southern Trans-Urals during the entire Late Bronze Age and the sequential use of a local ore base by the various populations inhabiting this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abundance of moles has been studied in 2007-2010 along the gradient of pollution by emissions from the Middle Ural (Middle Urals) and Karabash (Southern Urals) Copper Smelters. It has been estimated by the routing method with regard to the number of inhabited burrows per 1 km. Not a single mole has been recorded in heavily polluted areas near these copper smelters. Under conditions of moderate pollution, the abundance of moles decreased 1.5-1.8 times. The smallest 'mole desert' near the source of emissions extends for 90-100 km. A dramatic decrease in the abundance of earthworms, which are the main food object of moles, is considered a possible reason for these changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Novogodnee-Monto oxidized Au-(Cu) skarn and porphyry deposit is situated in the large metallogenic belt of magnetite skarn and Cu-Au porphyry deposits formed along the Devonian-Carboniferous Urals orogen. The deposit area incorporates nearly contemporaneous Middle-Late Devonian to Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous calc-alkaline (gabbro to diorite) and potassic (monzogabbro, monzodiorite- to monzonite-porphyry, also lamprophyres) intrusive suites. The deposit is represented by magnetite skarn overprinted by amphibole-chlorite-epidote-quartz-albite and then sericite-quartz-carbonate assemblages bearing Au-sulfide mineralization. This mineralization includes early high-fineness (900-990 ‰) native Au associated mostly with cobaltite as well as with chalcopyrite and Co-pyrite, intermediate-stage native Au (fineness 830-860 ‰) associated mostly with galena, and late native Au (760-830 ‰) associated with Te minerals. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope data indicate an involvement of magmatic-hydrothermal high-salinity (>20 wt.% NaCl-equiv.) chloride fluids. The potassic igneous suite may have directly sourced fluids, metals, and/or sulfur. The abundance of Au mineralization is consistent with the oxidized character of the system, and its association with Co-sulfides suggests elevated sulfur fugacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]